Friday, April 23, 2010

Missouri State Senator Joe Keaveny, his blatant flip floppery and why this shit is fubar…

Let’s jump right on in, shall we?

This is gonna be a bit longer than my usual post…a bitch has some shit I need to get off my Afro.

A bitch lives in the 4th Senate district in Missouri. I love living here…’tis diverse as hell, populated by some of the most progressive folks in the state and has lots of pretty trees a bitch can enjoy once they cease spitting pollen. When I first moved back to St. Louis, my state Senator was…well, he was reluctant to vote in a manner consistent with the values of his constituents (translation – he feared being denied communion more than he feared the wrath of the voters). Typical to Missouri politics, that state Senator was sitting pretty because it is difficult to unseat an incumbent who is backed by the machine. So this bitch watched as the then state Senator for the 4th district voted for bad bills that sought to shame women seeking to make decisions about their reproductive health…and he voted for the same-sex marriage ban in 2004, even though our district is pro-LGBT equality.

Yeah, that dude really sucked.

Imagine my happiness and joy when that state Senator was termed limited out of office…and then imaging all the joyification a bitch felt when a certain progressive as hell Jeff Smith emerged as a candidate and won!

Oh, happy day!

Finally the 4th was represented in the Missouri Senate by a person who articulated and voted the values of his constituents…outstanding. But Jeff Smith had done a bad thang back in the day when he was running for Congress and that bad thang caught up to his ass last year, resulting in Smith going to prison and the 4th needing a new state Senator.

That’s when The Man and his machine kicked into gear…and candidates to fill the seat were selected by a bunch of ward-based committee people who played political poker for a day and spit out a certain Joe Keaveny as the Democratic candidate.

I didn’t know shit about Joe Keaveny except for the fact that he was part of the political machine…and, since a bitch is deeply involved in reproductive justice in Missouri, I had a bad feeling about a candidate I didn’t know shit about.

Keaveny won...the 4th is true blue...and he took office in January of this year.

He passed his first reproductive justice test when he voted against the heinous 2010 Abortion Restriction Bill when it came up in committee, but the bill passed despite his no vote.

Keaveny signed on to the pro-choice Prevention First Act…another good sign…but my bad feeling lingered.

See, I kept remembering the Senator who held office when I first moved to the 4th…the one who was allergic to voting in a manner consistent with the values of his constituents.

...and Senator Joe Keaveny indulged in a public display of blatant flip floppery Thursday when he voted for the fucked up from the floor up Abortion Restriction Bill he had voted against in committee.

What…the…FUCK?

I suspect that Keaveny is going to try to spin that shit isn’t shit and that this heinous bill isn’t as heinous as it used to be.

But let’s skip that dance.

Abortion is the most regulated medical procedure in the state of Missouri. Despite the delusions spewed forth on the Senate floor, Missouri already has and providers in Missouri already comply with rigorous informed consent requirements.

This bill isn’t about establishing regulations that don't exist.

This bill is about politics...about pandering to the anti-choice forced that waltz the halls under the dome in Jefferson City like they own the building because a majority of state legislators do ig'nant shit like Mr. Keaveny just did and make them feel that they basically own that fucking building.

When he voted for the 2010 Abortion Restriction Bill Senator Keaveny voted for…

A bill that plops the Missouri state government down between doctor and patient.

A bill that adds additional…and let’s stress that these are addition, burdensome and unnecessary…requirements to the informed consent process for abortion.

A bill that mandates providers deliver dogma dressed up to look like fact through a script to be developed by government rather than medical professionals.

The bill denies women the ability to purchase private health plans that cover abortion, even if they pay the premiums with their own money…prohibits the sale of single service riders for abortion coverage purchased with private individual funds…and goes beyond the Hyde Amendment, which has prohibited public funding of abortion in most instances since 1977.

And this is my favorite bit of rancidity...the bill mandates that providers post signs at abortion clinics that contain claims of some fantastical state funded programs that will provide assistance in carrying a child to term and caring for that child once born, including health care, housing, transportation, food, clothing, education and job training.

Get this, the Senate voted to slash funding for programs that provide that shit before they voted to mandate that clinics post signs claiming that the state has programs that provide that shit!

I’m not kidding.

Shit, if this bill becomes law a bitch hopes some woman takes the state up on that last bit and then sues the hell out of Missouri for false advertising and fraud.

Lawd, have mercy.

Sadly, for the 4th Senate district this is all just another case of history repeating.

A bitch is beyond pissed off.

Keaveny sent this bitch an email when I reached out to him to ask that he vote in a manner consistent with the values of his constituents…an email that stated that he didn’t support the restrictions in the bill because they would do nothing to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies in Missouri…an email that said he was instead in support of prevention measures like those contained in the Prevention First Act.

I've seen this shit before…the Missouri Senate 4 two-step…the 'say one thing to get your constituents off your back' move that is always followed by the 'do the opposite because you really answer to another'.

Which leads me to the question I plan to put to Senator Keaveny soon and very soon...

Just who the hell did he serve with this vote?

Not people who want to reduce the number of abortions in Missouri…by his own admission via email to me, this bill and the provisions in it will do nothing to prevent unplanned pregnancies.

Not his constituents…I live here and we the people of the 4th district are not anti-choice and do not want the Missouri state government in the exam room with us and we sure as shit don’t support mandating the posting of lies at clinics or that claim of fetal pain.

So, who did Senator Keaveny serve…who is doing a happy dance over his vote…who is being represented in the Missouri Senate by Mr. Keaveny and his flip floppery?

I’d really like to know…because clearly I need to lobby that motherfucker if I want my values and wishes to be represented by Senator Keaveny in Jefferson City.

5 comments:

Amen, Shark-Fu! I'm so pissed about this. I'm thoroughly, let me say thoroughly about to give whatever staffer has the misfortune to answer the phone a full piece of my mind. This district is liberal as hell and I don't know who he's trying to fool by pulling some stunt like this.

I suggest that if this thing passes, that all abortion clinics post BELOW this sign another sign with all the true details you mention, about how funding for these programs have been cut. No law against that, is there?

The one thing I regret about leaving medical school is that I won't be able to perform abortions. I wasn't planning on encouraging people to do it, I just wanted to be one more doctor available with that option. I live in Illinois, not Missouri, but that shit is just too close for comfort.

I'm still pissed off! Are you planning to attend the meeting sponsored by Planned Parenthood on July 8 and 6:30 p.m.? Keavney has agreed to be there. We are hoping to amass a crowd of angry 4th District voters. The more who will attend, the better. Just called St. Louis Planned Parenthood, Angie, to register as attending (this is in a 4th district constituent's home, so we need to be able to somewhat accurately predict the attendance)and get the address. Bring all the friends and family you can.

Also, Keavney did this after it was too late to get someone else on the ballot to oppose him. The other Democrat running is no better a friend to women's issues. I would be happy to help campaign for any write-in candidate who is prepared to support a pro-choice, progressive agenda for the 4th District.